Hello,
This is Angie from Big Sky Mind.
Mindfulness is paying attention to what is happening in the present moment.
It can help us notice how we feel and notice the world around us.
Mindfulness can help us calm down when we have a difficult emotion and it can help us feel happy too.
Today we're going to be mindful of our breathing.
We all breathe,
We do it without thinking about it,
But noticing our breath can have a very calming effect on us.
It brings us back to our bodies and to what is happening right now.
Do you know what an anchor on a boat is?
It's something that keeps the boat steady and where it is in the water.
It stops the boat from drifting away.
Well,
That's what our breath can be doing for our mind.
Sometimes when you try to focus on your breath,
You might find that your mind starts thinking and that's completely normal,
But we can use our breath to anchor ourselves in our bodies.
We can come back to the breathing sensations in our body and our breath becomes like an anchor on a boat.
So if you're ready,
Let's get into a comfortable sitting position with our feet flat on the ground.
I'm going to invite you to close your eyes.
If you'd prefer not to do that,
You can just cast your gaze down towards your lap.
So let's just take a few moments to let go of the weight of our body into the chair and into the ground beneath us.
With each out breath,
Perhaps we can just let go a little more.
Let the weight of your body drop down through the chair and through the ground through your feet.
And as you let the weight of your body drop with each out breath,
The body can become still and itself can feel anchored and steady.
Noticing the weight of the body,
Just like the weight of an anchor on a ship,
Keeping it steady,
Letting the body be soft,
Relaxed,
Yet upright.
And let's bring our attention to the breath in our belly.
Can you feel the rise of the belly with the in breath and the softening of the belly with the out breath?
There's no need to change how we're breathing.
We're just noticing the sensations of breathing in our belly.
Feeling the sensation of the rise and fall of our belly with the breath.
Maybe just like the rise and fall of the waves and an ocean.
Easy in and easy out breath.
Perhaps you can feel the breathing sensations also in the chest.
What about the side of the body?
Can you feel your ribs,
Your body expanding sideways as you breathe in and softening as you breathe out?
And what about the back of the body?
Can you feel breathing sensations in the back of the body between the shoulders?
Perhaps you can feel how your clothing is moving on the back of your body.
Or the pressure on the back of the chair.
Breathing sensations happening in the front and the side and the back of the body.
And maybe thoughts are all so floating in.
And that's completely fine.
But let's come back to the anchor of our breathing.
Belly rising and falling.
Breath flowing in and out.
Weight of the body dropping.
Every time the tide of our thoughts wants to pull us off in a different direction.
Coming back to the breathing anchor.
Easy in and out breath.
Feeling the sensations of breath in the body.
Letting the body soften with the out breath.
Letting any tension or the weight of the body drop with each out breath.
Coming back to the breath again and again.
Noticing how each breath is different.
Sensations of breathing changing all the time.
And in a moment we're going to end this meditation.
And when you're ready,
Slowly opening your eyes and noticing how you feel now.
